Today on the show we are talking about American fashion, specifically Empresses of Seventh Avenue: World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American Fashion, the brand-new book from Nancy MacDonell, out August 27. Prior to World War II, American designers were nothing short of second-class citizens to the French. But, after the Nazis invaded Paris during the war, everything changed for French fashion, and by the time the war ended in 1945, the American look was in fashion. What is the...

Today I am talking to author Heath Hardage Lee about one of America’s First Ladies, and perhaps one of our most private ones—Pat Nixon, wife of President Richard Nixon. The timing is interesting: earlier this month marked 50 years since President Nixon’s resignation from the presidency following Watergate, and earlier this month Heath released her really, really fantastic new book The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady, which I absolutely tore...

Today on the show we’re returning to the Alex Murdaugh saga, as I call it—this is actually not the first time on the show we’ve spoken about it and not even the first time in season 13 we’ve spoken about it. It is compelling to me for its savagery—I can’t understand it, a man who could do this evil to his family and to so many others, as well. Today on the show we have Valerie Bauerlein, here to talk about her brilliant new book The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern...

I’m really excited to bring you this conversation today about a book that came out in 2017 called Beauty Sick: How the Cultural Obsession with Appearance Hurts Girls and Women by Dr. Renee Engeln. In the book, Dr. Engeln introduces us to beauty sick culture and what it feels like and looks like for women and girls. She writes in the book “How might women’s lives be different if they book the energy and concern aimed at their own appearance and aimed it out at the world instead?” If women...

We’ve actually already talked about today’s book and author before on the show—back in January, when the book came out, we mentioned it on the show as it was my first #ReadwithMC book club pick. And now, how lucky are we today to have Kate Kennedy on I’d Rather Be Reading discussing her book One in a Millennial: On Friendships, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In, which came out January 23. This book put into words everything I wish I could have said about being a millennial and perfectly...

Twenty-five years ago, on September 22, 1999, one of the most beloved television shows of all time premiered on NBC: The West Wing, starring Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, John Spencer, and a whole host of other talented actors, including our two guests today—but more on them in a moment. The political drama was created and largely written by Aaron Sorkin, one of my personal favorite writers, and aired from that day in 1999 until May 14, 2006, totaling seven...

On May 4, 1970, during a rally on the campus of Kent State University opposing expanding the Vietnam War into Cambodia by United States military forces, as well as protesting the draft and the Ohio National Guard’s presence on campus, all it took was 13 seconds for 28 National Guard soldiers to fire 67 rounds, killing four and wounding nine unarmed college students. One of the nine injured suffered permanent paralysis, and students Allison Krause, 19, Jeffrey Miller, 20, Sandra Scheuer, 20,...

If you’ve been a longtime listener to the show, you know I love to have conversations about faith, and I’ve got two back-to-back ones for you listeners this weekend. Today on the show we have the absolutely lovely Demi-Leigh Tebow, who you might know as Miss Universe 2017. Back then, she was Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, before she married famous quarterback Tim Tebow in 2020. Demi-Leigh is the founder of The Tebow Group, an entrepreneur, a keynote speaker, and an influencer who was crowned both...

One of my favorite faith leaders, Max Lucado, is on the show today chatting with me about his latest book, What Happens Next: A Traveler’s Guide Through the End of This Age, which comes out on August 13. Today’s show is a conversation about faith, and about the end times—but it’s anything but doom and gloom and frightening and scary. It’s quite the opposite, actually—I’ve never felt more peace about what will happen to me when it’s my time, and I’ve also never felt more peace about those I...

I am a big fan of the dynamic Lydia Fenet, who has written not one but two books we are talking about on the show today: The Most Powerful Woman in the Room Is You: Command an Audience and Sell Your Way to Success, which came out in 2019, and Claim Your Confidence: Unlock Your Superpower and Create the Life You Want, which came out last year. Lydia is the CEO and founder of the Lydia Fenet Agency, has raised over a billion dollars for nonprofits globally as the world’s leading charity...

One of my recent absolute obsessions is skincare. I am always looking for new information, data, research, and resources about my skin, and that’s how I stumbled across Hannah English’s brilliant book Your Best Skin: The Science of Skincare, which came out in 2022. Hannah is a beauty writer, content creator, and pharmaceutical scientist with a clinical research background who breaks down the science behind skincare in such an easily digestible and understandable format. Hannah’s book teaches...

Today on the show we have Jason Ryan, here to talk to us about his new book Swamp Kings: The Story of the Murdaugh Family of South Carolina and a Century of Backwoods Power, which came out in April. We have spoken about the Murdaugh saga (as I like to call it) on the show before, and we’ll actually speak about it again in season 13. This book certainly talks about Alex Murdaugh, but it also talks about the Murdaugh family of Hampton County, South Carolina, and how Alex’s actions—as depraved...

We are kicking off season 13 with a book from 2021 that changed my life for the better that I had to revisit and bring to you listeners: Energize: Go from Dragging Ass to Kicking It In 30 Days by Dr. Michael Breus and Stacey Griffith. Dr. Michael Breus is known as “the Sleep Doctor,” and to that end, he writes in the book “to stop feeling so tired and burst with infinite energy all day long, all you have to do is follow the right schedule personalized for your chronotype and body type.” What...

I have always been a big proponent of books finding you when they’re meant to, and I recently read Daniel Pink’s latest book, The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward, which came out in 2022. I’ll be honest—I don’t think I had ever consciously thought about regret until reading his book. Then, I realized, by learning from the regrets of my past, I could at least try to do my best to prevent the regrets of my future. As I mentioned last week, I am taking a big leap...

I am so excited to introduce you today to a woman who will change the world for the better—and already is. Today on the show we have the dynamic Kathleen Griffith, whose book Build Like a Woman: The Blueprint for Creating a Business and Life You Love, came out on June 4 and, I am happy to tell you, is already a bestseller. Kathleen opens the book by writing that “This book is for every woman who is done and ready,” and talks about building a business and a life through the lens and framework...

This book may have come out nearly four years ago, but it is just as needed today as it was in 2020: entrepreneur Kara Goldin’s Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters. Kara, who founded the flavored water brand Hint in 2005, calls herself an “accidental entrepreneur,” and founded Hint after a Diet Coke addiction, which—relatable. Kara’s mission is helping people fall in love with healthy choices, and this drove her decision to found Hint and expand it into verticals like sunscreen, for...

What an episode we have for you listeners today as we conclude our JFK Jr. series. Today, July 16, officially marks 25 years since the plane crash that took the lives of John, Carolyn, and Lauren, and on the show today we have RoseMarie Terenzio and Liz McNeil, who have written the absolutely brilliant new book JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography, which is out today. RoseMarie also wrote the memoir Fairytale Interrupted: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss, which came out in 2012; we talk about...

Today on the show we have a living legend—Kathie Lee Gifford is here to talk about her faith and, listeners, you know I love to talk to guests about their faith. Kathie Lee has written a really compelling new book that juxtaposes the story of evil personified in King Herod with the living hope of Jesus told through the story of his mother, Mary. Kathie Lee writes in her new book Herod and Mary: The True Story of the Tyrant King and the Mother of the Risen Savior, which is out July 16, that...

Most people probably know Carole Radziwill from her time on The Real Housewives of New York City and while, don’t get me wrong, I loved her on the show—that’s nowhere near the most interesting part of her story. Carole is an extraordinarily talented journalist and had an esteemed career in the field, even working as a war correspondent at one point. She worked as a journalist and a producer for nearly two decades at ABC News, during which time she earned three Emmys. Carole married her fellow...

When it comes to dream I’d Rather Be Reading guests—I’m talking about names at the top of the vision board—Emily Giffin would be right there at the apex. Yes, this is a nonfiction books podcast, but I do read fiction from time to time, and one fiction author whose books I never miss is Emily Giffin, my No. 1 favorite fiction writer of all time. I actually met Emily at a book signing in the summer of 2016 in Nashville—at Draper James, Reese Witherspoon’s boutique—and Emily changed my life. At...

Today, we’re talking about travel tips and tricks and tales with a fascinating person to tackle the topic with—none other than Gary Janetti, whose new book We Are Experiencing a Slight Delay: Tips, Tales, Travels is out July 9. On the 1 percent chance you don’t know the hilarious Gary Janetti, allow me to introduce you: Gary is a writer, producer, and actor who has written for Family Guy and was an executive producer on Will and Grace. He also produced the satire animated sitcom The Prince,...

As our series honoring the tragic plane crash that killed John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and Lauren Bessette continues in the leadup to the 25-year anniversary of the crash on July 16, I’m so happy to welcome William D. Cohan to the show, who wrote a book not just about his friend from Andover, John, but also about three other friends from the prep school that lost their lives far too soon. This is such an interesting concept for a book—in his book Four Friends: Promising...

Hi listeners—please be advised that this episode is true crime in nature and contains graphic descriptions of a violent crime. If this may be triggering for you, please skip this episode, and we’ll see you back in your feed later this week. Take care of yourselves.   We have spoken on I’d Rather Be Reading before about the horrendous quadruple homicide that took place in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022, where four University of Idaho students were viciously murdered—brutally stabbed to...

As we continue our series on John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and Lauren Bessette to honor the 25-year anniversary of their tragic deaths in a July 16, 1999, plane crash, we are going to be talking to people that knew the victims—and I truly want to thank each and every one of them for their courage in talking about them. As I told each of my guests in our pre-show, I know that, to them, these aren’t just celebrities—these are real people and real friends who they loved and...

I still remember exactly where I was on Saturday, July 17, 1999, when the news bulletin flashed across the screen that the small plane carrying John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn, and her sister Lauren was missing. The three had flown out of New Jersey’s Essex County Airport the night before, Friday, July 16, in John’s Piper Saratoga plane, headed for Martha’s Vineyard, where they were to drop off Lauren and then go on to Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, where John and Carolyn were due to...